It's becoming a disturbing trend for underground artists, many of whom are finding themselves plagued by unfavorable record contracts.
It wasn't long ago that De La Soul was embroiled in a conflict with Tommy Boy, which left them unable to receive the royalties they actually deserved. Though that has since been resolved, Phonte of Little Brother recently took to Instagram to share a message about his group's current situation with ABB Records.
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"We are asking our fans to NOT support ABB Records by purchasing the repress of The Minstrel Show or The Listening," writes Phonte. We have NOT seen a dollar from the sale of either record, ever." In addition to the request, he provided a bit of elaboration on the situation in the accompanying caption.
"I have no smoke with @fatbeats, but @abbrecords can get the entire fuck outta here," writes Phonte, alongside a post from Fat Beats record shop promoting the new re-releases. "Either way, my brother @rapperbigpooh and I are asking that you don’t support any LB vinyl represses and stop running The Listening on all streaming platforms until Ben Nickleberry Jr. aka Beni B. of @abbrecords honors his fucking word and pays us what we’re owed. Thank you for listening. #LBbizness."
Though it's possible some fans will lament having to skip out on a classic for the collection, Little Brother loyalists will have no problem standing up for the group and abstaining-- especially if Phonte himself is issuing the request himself. Check out the rapper's PSA for yourself below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUF8HLtllcb
